Impact of Streaming/Podcasting on the Fate SRD

[wizardoest]

I run the Fate SRD website. The image below is the lifetime analytics for site visitors.



You'll note that the two biggest bumps on the right have a lasting impact on site visitors. The first one is the Fate Tabletop Episode. The second one is the Adventure Zone Fate podcast, The Commitment.

The takeaway is that streaming/podcasting is having a HUGE impact on RPGs.

I posted a thread on Twitter expanding my thoughts but in summary, I think that RPGs need to refocus on being digital first.

 

[Morrus]

That's some clear spikes there! There's no doubt those streamers have a strong effect.

I think it might be worth noting that its not streaming in general - for every Tabletop, there's a thousand you'll never hear of, just like with everything. But it's worth noting that when streaming gets big, it gets *really* big.

Then again, there's also another way to look at it - what if, say, the BBC posted an article about the Fate SRD. I wonder how the spike would compare? I remember the BBC doing an article about D&D some 15 years ago, and there was a link to EN World (amongst other places) in the article; the traffic spike was *insane*. And of course, we used to get "Slashdotted" from time to time and the site would literally have to close and wait out the traffic.

So it may not be "streaming", per se, any more than it's "web articles" -- it's more the individual popularity of Tabletop, Adventure Zone, and the BBC. Streaming is the one we're noticing, because there's a few really big streamers out there right now. Critical Role is friggin' huge; possibly on it way to eclipsing the actual game it supports.

 

[wizardoest]

You raise some excellent points.

 

[Morrus]

I wonder if we'll every get to the point where the most popular game is the one the biggest streamers like? Not yet, of course, but they certainly had an effect on D&D. If that effect grows over the coming years, it might be the case that the world's biggest games are so because of streaming.

 

[wizardoest]

Along those lines, I'm wondering how RPG design will shift to include an audience that boosts players.


I ran a game of Monster of the Week at my company retreat where folks were planning on watching, so I wrote a custom rule that let them participate a bit and it was a hit.

 

[Ratskinner]

The plateaus are even more important than the spikes themselves. That's a pretty big increase in the sustained interest.

I wonder if we'll every get to the point where the most popular game is the one the biggest streamers like? Not yet, of course, but they certainly had an effect on D&D. If that effect grows over the coming years, it might be the case that the world's biggest games are so because of streaming.

Makes me wonder if there won't be big audience waiting for the first game that really cracks that online/app thing well. Like, if one of my guys could ghost in through an app.